Wednesday, September 21, 2005

The "Aftercast"

If you're a teacher like I am (and you know you are - well, maybe you're not), you know what it's like to have your best thoughts about a class discussion occur to you after the class has ended.

No fear: podcast them! Today I spent an engrossing seventy-five minutes with a writing class talking about the essay "Waking Up From the American Dream" by Sasha Abramsky. But the final formulation of an assignment based on that discussion only came together in my mind after the class was over. Rather than hold these thoughts for the next class (when they would be a little late in coming, the students having done another version of the assignment over the weekend), I podcast them to the class.

I called the podcast "afterthoughts." You might call it an "aftercast." At any rate, it's a way of preserving those "out the door" thoughts and sharing them with students while they're still fresh.